The present invention is in the field of computer telephony integrated (CTI) networks and has particular application to methods and apparatus including software for the purpose of third-party participation in agent call activity at agent stations.
Telephone call processing and switching systems are, at the time of present patent application, relatively sophisticated, computerized systems, and development and introduction of new systems continues. Much information on the nature of such hardware and software is available in a number of publications accessible to the present inventor and to those will skill in the art in general. For this reason, much minute detail of known systems is not reproduced here, as to do so would obscure the facts of the invention.
One document which provides considerable information on intelligent networks is xe2x80x9cITU-T Recommendation Q.1219, Intelligent Network User""s Guide for Capability Set 1xe2x80x9d, dated April, 1994.
At the time of filing the present patent application there continues to be remarkable growth in telephone-based information systems (intelligent networks) including Internet based networks. Recently emerging examples are telemarketing operations and technical support operations, among many others, which have grown apace with development and marketing of, for example, sophisticated computer equipment. More traditional are systems for serving customers of such as large insurance organizations. In some cases, organizations develop and maintain their own telephony operations with purchased or leased equipment, and in many other cases, companies are outsourcing such operations to films that specialize in such services.
A large technical support operation may serve as an example of the kind of applications of telephone equipment and functions to which the present invention pertains and applies. Consider such a system having a country-wide matrix of call-in centers, which is more and more a relatively common practice to provide redundancy and decentralization, which are often considered desirable in such operations. Also in such large organizations, business firms have a national, and in many cases a world-wide customer base. Such a system handles a large volume of calls from people seeking technical information on, for example, installation of certain computer-oriented equipment. These calls are handled by a finite number of trained operators distributed over the decentralized matrix of call centers.
In an intelligent network such as described above, incoming calls placed from anywhere in the Publicly Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) arrive at central telephony switches called in the art Service Control Points (SCP). An SCP is generally provided to be relatively close to a defined local area of callers. If the intelligent network is very large comprising many call centers then more than one SCP may be provided. Routing of incoming calls begins at the SCP.
A central router at the SCP typically routes incoming calls to other routers or telephony switches that are deployed throughout the network to provide further routing to call centers or customer information systems (CIS). Additional processors may be provided at the SCP for further computer enhancement. For example, when a call arrives at an SCP, information about the caller may be collected and processed to help determine routing for the call. Then, according to programmed routing rules, the call may be routed to an automatic call distributor (ACD) for further routing to a call center and then on to an available agent. In some networks (known to the inventor) information pertaining to the caller may arrive at an agent station before the call. Routing in an intelligent network may be accomplished on several levels according to many different protocols. It is the processor connected to the telephony switch that provides computer enhancement in an intelligent network.
Incoming calls are routed to an agent trained to handle the call according to protocols established by the company or organization hosting a destination call-center or centers. A large call center may have hundreds of agents logged in to the system and actively taking a variety of calls. As well as calls coming in, there may also be outgoing calls being placed by agents. Therefore, call monitoring capabilities or features are and have been an important tool for a call center manager to have at his or her disposal.
It is well established in the art that most large service organizations hosting call centers have a capability for monitoring telephone calls while an agent is actively communicating with the caller. For example, when calling to inquire about a telephone bill or perhaps an electric bill, a caller may hear a recorded voice prompt informing the caller that the call will be monitored for the purpose of training a new agent, etc. Mostly, this feature is used in the service industry, but is also utilized in other industries where there are legal considerations, or service quality concerns.
In current art, telephone call monitoring is basically limited to a manager or supervisor patching in to the phone call in process and listening to the agent handle the call via another telephone or headset. Typically, this is a transaction requiring the monitoring party to xe2x80x9cconference inxe2x80x9d in order to participate with an agent/client audio communication. Another more commonly used method for monitoring a telephone transaction is termed xe2x80x9cpassive monitoringxe2x80x9d by those with experience in the art. Passive monitoring is the process of recording an individual transaction and then later playing it back.
A problem with the art in it""s current state is that control of the monitoring process is largely limited to listening to the audio transaction and conferring with the agent during the call or after the call has ended. Although it is possible for the monitoring party to break in to the call, most often the call is transferred to the monitoring supervisor for disposition. For example, an agent supervisor may be listening to a call in process wherein there is a disagreement between the customer and the agent that requires intervention. In this instance, the supervisor would have to conference the call and attempt to mediate if immediate intervention were required. This is largely impractical because of the traffic levels that may be in effect over the lines. If there are many supervisors continually conferencing within the call center, a notable rise in network traffic could result. Therefore, most calls needing intervention are either transferred or passively monitored with the agent being consulted after the call creating a possible situation wherein the agent must place an outgoing call back to the customer with a remedy.
Another problem with current call monitoring capability relates to a lack of efficiency of service to the customer. For example, upon entering a current transaction between an agent and client, a monitoring supervisor is xe2x80x9ccoldxe2x80x9d with regards to knowing the history, present particulars concerning the client, and so on. The monitoring party must hear the situation again after it has been once explained by the customer, and in some situations, must obtain other information that may be stored about the caller by making a second request, (after the agent""s initial request), to a customer information system (CIS). For this reason, many larger organizations observe a policy of passive monitoring, with active monitoring occurring only on a random basis.
It is also true that in many modern call centers, agents have one or more telephones connected to a central switch, and also a computer platform, such as a PC. The PC may be connected on a local area network (LAN) with a computer-telephony-integration (CTI) processor also connected to the telephony switch, and the LAN may have one or more connected servers, such as a customer-oriented database. In such a system, an agent is typically capable of displaying information about a customer and a customer""s situation on the PC display at the agent station, and special software for call-center management may also be capable of displaying instructions for the agent on the agent""s screen, known in the art as scripting.
In a modern call center, then, the agent""s activity and interactivity with a caller is not limited to the audio dialogue, but includes all of the activity, enabled largely by the PC and interconnectivity with other elements in the call center.
What is clearly needed is a method and apparatus including software whereby active monitoring can take place without increasing network traffic over conventional lines, and enable a monitoring party to interact from an informed position with regards to each customer""s needs. The system also needs to be integrated with the entire range of tools at the agent""s station, and with the applications the agent may use in interacting with a customer. Such a system would eliminate frustration and time delays associated with current methods.
In a preferred embodiments of the present invention, an interactive telephone-computer platform combination is provided, comprising a telephone having a microphone and a speaker for audio input and output respectively; a computer platform having a sound card coupled to an internal bus, wherein the sound card has a line-in port and a line out port; and an audio interface comprising a connected from the telephone speaker line to one or both of the sound card line-in port and line out port. In some embodiments the telephone speaker line is connected to both the sound card line-in and line-out ports, such that analog audio may be provided to the telephone speaker line from the computer bus through the sound card, and may be provided to the computer bus from the telephone. Resistors may be installed to protect drive circuitry in both the telephone and the sound card, and amplification circuitry may be used in the connected lines between the sound card and the telephone speaker line.
In another aspect of the invention a telephone-to-sound card connector is provided, comprising a first extension adapted for connecting to a microphone and speaker of the telephone; a second extension adapted for connected to microphone and speaker circuitry in the telephone, wherein the telephone speaker is connected to the speaker circuitry by a speaker line, and the microphone is connected to the microphone circuitry by a microphone line, through the first and second extensions; and a third extension adapted for connecting to one or both of microphone and speaker ports of a sound card expansion card. One or both of the microphone and speaker ports of the sound card may be connected to the speaker line between the telephone speaker and the telephone speaker circuitry. In some embodiments both ports are connected to the speaker line, such that analog audio may be provided to the telephone speaker line from the computer bus through the sound card, and may be provided to the computer bus from the telephone. Resistors may be installed in one or more of the lines within the connector to protect drive circuitry in both the telephone and the sound card. Also, amplification circuitry may be used in the connecting lines within the connector.
In yet another aspect a telephony call center is provided, comprising a first agent station having a computer platform connected to a local area network (LAN); and a second agent station connected to the LAN and having a computer platform and a telephone, wherein the computer platform is equipped with a sound card, the sound card having a microphone port for audio input and a speaker port for audio output, and wherein the telephone has a speaker, speaker circuitry for driving the speaker via a speaker line connecting the speaker circuitry and the speaker, a microphone, and microphone circuitry for receiving and processing audio input from the microphone; wherein the telephone at the second agent station has the speaker line connected to one or both of the microphone port and the speaker port of the sound card. The speaker line may be connected to both the sound card microphone port and the sound card speaker port.
In some embodiments of the call center control code at the first and second agent stations is adapted for enabling a person at the first agent station to monitor a telephone conversation conducted on the telephone at the second agent station, audio being supplied from the telephone via the telephone speaker line to the sound card microphone port, thence to an internal bus of the computer platform at the second agent station, thence via the LAN to the first agent station. In some embodiments as well, the control code at the first and second agent stations is adapted for enabling a person at the first agent station to join in to, as well as listen to, a telephone conversation conducted on the telephone at the second agent station, audio being supplied from the telephone via the telephone speaker line to the second card microphone port, thence to an internal bus of the computer platform at the second agent station, thence via the LAN to the first agent station, and from the first agent station via the LAN to the computer platform at the second agent station, thence to the internal bus at the second agent station, thence to the sound card, thence to the telephone via the sound card speaker port.
In still other embodiments the control code further comprises file-sharing code, whereby the person at the first agent station may, on a display monitor of the computer platform at the first agent station, also view and interact with a display on a display monitor at the second agent station. In other embodiments the control code comprises code enabling telephone conversations on the telephone at the second agent station to be recorded at one or both of the first agent station and the second agent station. In yet other embodiments there may be a data server connected to the LAN, wherein the control code comprises code adapted for archiving telephone conversations on the telephone at the first agent station in a database at the data server. In some embodiments wherein telephone conversations are recorded, there may be a transaction log facility, whereby transactions at the second call center are logged, and wherein saved voice files are associated with logged transactions, such that voice files associated with transactions may be retrieved and reviewed.
In embodiments of the invention, for the first time, service-observing is provided in a manner that a third party may completely monitor and participate in agent activities in a call center, making it possible to monitor agent activities, record conversations, relate recorded conversations to transactions logged separately, and so forth.